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Hi there guys, I was looking around at picking up my first field gun model kit since coming back into the hobby as an adult. This is my 5th or so kit, all others have been Tamiya/Meng so I wasnt sure what to expect from trumpeter given their reputation for sometimes overly complex kits. I was very surprised and absolutely loved the kit. There arent any reviews out there I spotted so I put some details below pictures. Here the kit is painted up, I havent decided on whether to give it an oil wash or add some weathering. There are no decals. You can see an issue I had with the front wheels (details at the end). it. There are an absolute tonne of wonderfully detailed pieces around the gun behind the shields; As you can see the wheels at the back are on much better than those at the front. Some details about the kit; It sits at around 270 parts, in the box you get 5 plastic sprues: 2x A, B,C,D; 1 small sprue of photo-etch also labelled A; 4 rubber wheels and a separate piece which is unlabeled but the instructions call it D82. The sprues come wrapped in a little piece of sponge inside their plastic bags, which is quite nice since there are quite a few thin long pieces which are very easy to break when handling the sprue if not careful. The instructions are quite spartan but clear enough. In steps 1-5 you build the gun itself, 6 to 20 contains the majority of the pieces and involves building the platform for the gun then in 21-27 you build the carriage. There are 2 options shown through the instructions, one for travel mode (which is how I built the kit) and one for combat mode, with the struts down and gun elevated. There is only 1 paint scheme shown, the typical russian green all over with rubber black wheels. The paint guide seems a little off to me, they recommend tamiya XF20, but also call for light green, I used vallejo 71.017 russian green 4BO which I think looks pretty nice. The downsides for me are; there are alot of very small, very easy to break pieces and absolutely no spares provided, the gun, as well as multiple other cylindrical pieces, come in 2 parts which leaves quite a few annoying seams to be filing down and finally the construction of the wheels has a part in it which I think shouldn't be there. When you build the wheel up, the instructions have you pop a little piece inside the axle mounting (A25). If you put it in (like I did at the front) the wheels simply dont go over no matter what you do, if you leave it out (like at the back) they fit perfectly. Also nearly all of the PE parts have to be bent, most of them freehand, which is a pet hatred of mine. So all in all, I had a great time with this kit, its complicated but not ridiculous, there are lots of small pieces to be handling but they all go in place very easily and it doesnt get repetitive (unlike say, making 80 links worth of tracks out of 4 pieces, thanks Meng) and comes together really nicely. I do think that for the price, given the lack of paint options and no decals, the kit does need something a little extra. Either a metal barrel or crew or even just some ammo+ammo storage would really bring the kit together to me.

Ok so only my second posting in this section and my first attempt at a resin kit which was interesting! This has meant a lot to me as I served on these guns in the 1980's so it's something I've wanted to build for over 20 years but they're not cheap or easy to find. It was my first resin kit and came with some challenges the first being a badly warped barrel which in spite of several attempts couldn't be straightened so was replaced with an almost perfect section of plastic tube. I also managed to loose the whole breach block????? This resulted in my first foray in to scratch building which then led to putting right a number of inaccuracies and omissions in the kit including an air box and air lines, relocating the hydraulic compressors for the rear wheels, British side reflectors, a base plate drop mechanism and a return lever for the load assist assembly. It's not quite finished yet but I thought I'd post it now it's pretty much there. Next up is a diorama base to put it on and an accurate armour 155mm ammo pallet to go at the rear, shame they don't do a Foden 6x6 gun tractor to go with it. Sorry about the back drop but it's a big beast however I think it's an interesting subject but then I'm a bit biased, hope you like it? Edited to add a pic of a real one on exercise up in Otterburn, I'd forgotten quite how big they were!

Chinese PLA Type 59 130mm Towed Field Gun Trumpeter 1:35 History The PLA Type 59 is a licensed built copy of the Soviet M-46 gun which was developed from the M-36 130 mm naval gun used on ships and for coast defence. It is a true gun, being unable to fire much above 45° and having a long barrel and a single propelling charge. It has a 52 calibre barrel with a tied jaw horizontal sliding block breach and ‘pepperpot’ muzzle brake. The latter is not notably efficient, but subjective reports suggest that it is quite effective in reducing muzzle flash. The hydro-pneumatic recoil system comprises a buffer below the barrel and a recuperator above the barrel. The long barrel enables a substantial propelling charge by providing more length in which to achieve ‘all-burnt’ and hence projectile acceleration space and thus achieve its 930 m/s muzzle velocity. The barrel is mounted on a split-trail carriage, with deep box section trails and foam filled road wheels on the ground when firing and 50° of top traverse. The small shield protects little more than the sights, possible including from the effects of muzzle blast, and some protection from machine gun fire in anti-tank engagements. The gun has long and robust trails to provide stability when firing, a large detachable spade is fitted to the end of each when the gun is brought into action. Non-reciprocating sights are standard Soviet pattern, designed for one-man laying. Included are a direct fire anti-tank telescope, a panoramic periscopic indirect-fire sight (a dial sight) in a reciprocating mounting, an angle of sight scale, and a range drum engraved with the range (distance) scale, coupled to a mounted elevation levelling bubble. The range drum enables the standard Soviet technique of semi-direct fire when the piece is laid visually on the target and the range set on the range drum. An APN-3 was later provided for direct fire at night in place of the day telescope. For travel, the gun is towed via a two-wheeled limber fitted to the end of the closed trails, with the spades removed and carried on each trail. Simple jacks on the trails just behind the main wheels are used to lift and support the closed trails so that the limber can be connected. The barrel and recuperator are pulled back between the closed trails and locked in a travelling position. There is a large bicycle chain arrangement on the right trail for this, and a compressed air cylinder, charged by the gun firing, is used to bring the barrel forward when the gun is brought back into action. It takes about four minutes to bring the gun into action; the normal detachment is eight strong. Propelling charges are in metal cartridge cases and loaded separately from the projectile. Projectiles originally included HE fragmentation, Armour Piercing solid shot, and smoke, illuminating and chemical. HE shells weigh some 33 kg. Illuminating shells have a substantially lower muzzle velocity. APHE and extended range shells were introduced later. Maximum rate of fire is probably 6-7 rounds/minute, and about 70 rounds/hour. The Model The kit comes in Trumpeters standard top opening, and quite attractive box, with an artistic representation of the gun in action. Inside there are eight sprues of beige coloured styrene, almost the colour of a Caramac candy bar. There are also a set of two rubber tyres, two separate trail legs, a small etch sheet and a small decal sheet. The parts are really well moulded with no flash and only a few moulding pips needing removal. Although not to everyones taste, the rubber tyres are nicely done with finely moulded details on both the tread and the sidewalls. The build begins with the heart of the mount, the central casting, onto which the two axles, base, ancillary hydraulic unit, various hooks, handles, and other fittings attached to it. On the underside the turntable is attached to the casting by a large pivot and a couple of connecting arms with the turntable also being fitted with a couple of handles. This assembly is put to one side whilst the gun is put together. The rear of the barrel is assembled from upper and lower halves and fitted with the elevating ratchet mechanism, to this the three piece breech block is assembled and slid into the breech part, which is then completed with the addition of three outer plates before being attached to the rear barrel section. The recuperator mounts are then fitted to the front of the breech and the rear of the barrel. Each of the two recuperators are then attached to their mounts, followed by the breech handle and protective plate. Next up is the complex sight, which is made up of no less than thirteen parts. This is then attached to the left side of the breech/rear barrel assembly along with the recuperators protective top cover and left hand breech panel. The barrel, which seems disproportionally long, is also provided in upper and lower halves, to which the two part muzzle brake is attached before the barrel is fitted to the breech assembly. Turning the barrel assembly upside down the two elevation springs are attached, before turning the barrel right side up and fitting the trunnion with moulded on sprocket, and trunnion mounts which are in turn attached to the central casting and fitted out with numerous unidentifiable fixtures and fittings. The two, two piece trails are fitted out with barrel cleaning rods, pioneer tools, clamps, hooks, handles and the five piece jockey wheels and, on the right hand trail the towing eye. The trails are then fitted with their top plate so that the two parts slide over the top and bottom pivots on the central casting. The two spades that fit to the rear of the trails are fitted with a selection of handles and attachments with the option of positioning them in the traveling position. The wheels are then assembled from the rubber tyres plus inner and outer hubs, (the inner hubs are fitted with a brake accumulators, pipework and linkages), before being fitted to the axles. Before fitting the two splinter shields, of which there are optional styles to choose from, they need to be fitted with the binocular and map boxes, support arms, sighting/viewing port doors and three PE handles, before being attached to he front of the gun mount.Finally the elevation wheel is attached, along with a couple of locking handles at the end of the trails, completing the build. If you wish to build this kit as part of a diorama Trumpeter have included a small fret which contains a wooden shell box with separate lid and PE corner protectors, plus a separate shell and charge case The small decal sheet provides just two decals, one showing the elevation/range chart is positioned on the left hand side of the breech, whilst the other appears to show the gun arrangement and is positioned near the top of the right hand splinter shield. Conclusion I really like these field guns from Trumpeter and this one is just great. There is plenty of detail and from the quick bit of research it looks pretty accurate. Whether it’s used in firing or travel mode this will look great in a diorama although it will need a suitable tractor to go with it. The only disappointment is that the gun crew aren’t included, although I’m sure Trumpeter will release a separate set of troops at some point. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for

Hi all, My second attempt at anything not medium-scale aircraft so be gentle! I wasgiven this kit to complete for the up-and-coming D-Day diorama at the Hornby museum - my club is organising and preparing the hundreds of tanks, guns, aircraft, ships and figures which will feature. I have done a 1/76 Sherman for the same display. It is not muddied up yet as I don't know what shades will be used in the diorama so it would be silly to have it not matching - nonetheless I hope my feeble attempts at weathering pass muster here on the armour forum. I actually really enjoyed it - was lovely to leave the filler alone and just experiment with preshading/washes and chipping, and all done in a couple of days! Cheers, Chris

25 Pounder Field Gun, Pics by Adam